Thursday 19 July 2018

Corby celebrates 70th anniversary of the NHS

Corby celebrates 70th anniversary of the NHS A ‘thank you’ card for people to sign and share their thoughts about Corby’s health services was signed at a party celebrating the 70th anniversary of the NHS. Northamptonshire Telegraph

Research and analysis: Prison health: health and justice annual report

Research and analysis: Prison health: health and justice annual report Public Health England annual report on health trends in prisons and other prescribed places of detention (PPDs).

Each baby counts: themed report on anaesthetic care, including lessons identified from Each Baby Counts babies born 2015 to 2017

Each baby counts: themed report on anaesthetic care, including lessons identified from Each Baby Counts babies born 2015 to 2017 Launched in 2014, the Each Baby Counts programme aims to reduce the number of babies who die or are left severely disabled as a result of incidents occurring during term labour by 50 per cent by 2020.

In 2017, the College published a landmark report based on the care of 1,136 babies born in the UK in 2015 and found that 76 per cent of these babies might have had a different outcome with different care. It also included recommendations highlighting critical factors in the care of the many of these babies that may prevent these incidents in the future.

Detailed further analysis of the Each Baby Counts data has now been conducted into the anaesthetic care given to the mothers of 49 babies reported to Each Baby Counts between 2015 and 2017. This special report will form part of a wider set of findings and recommendations from the Each Baby Counts programme, to be published in autumn 2018. Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists

Private sector cashes in on over-stretched NHS

Private sector cashes in on over-stretched NHS Under-pressure NHS services in England are spending over £1bn a year buying care from outside the NHS because they are unable to keep up with demand.

The bill is being racked up by hospitals, ambulances and mental health trusts, data obtained by the BBC shows.

NHS managers said money was being wasted as often it was done at the last minute, and led to the NHS over-paying.

Sending patients to private clinics for care like hip and knee surgery is thought to be the most common purchase. BBC News

Delays in radiology results 'affecting patient care'

Delays in radiology results 'affecting patient care' The regulator of heath care services in England is calling for a limit on how long it takes to report the results of patients' x-rays and scans.

The Care Quality Commission's review of radiology practices found that the process could vary from one hour to two working days in hospital A&Es.

This could mean delays in results being shared with doctors and patients receiving timely care.

The review also said there were not enough radiologists to meet demand. BBC News

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Infant mortality in England and Wales rises for first time since 2011

Infant mortality in England and Wales rises for first time since 2011 Infant mortality increased for the first time since 2011 last year amid signs that decades worth of improvements are plateauing, deaths data for England and Wales shows.

Published by the Office of National Statistics (ONS), it reveals four children died before their first birthday for every 1,000 live births - an increase of 2.6 per cent on the rate for the previous three years of 3.9 infant deaths per 1,000 births.

The increase means that improvements in infant mortality have stagnated since 2010, falling from 4.3 per 1,000 births to 4.0. The Independent

Autistic people wait years for diagnosis in some parts of England

Autistic people wait years for diagnosis in some parts of England MP says ‘scandalous waiting times’ affect access to NHS support for those with autism

People with suspected autism are being forced to wait more than two years to be assessed and almost four years to receive their diagnosis, new NHS performance figures have revealed.

The long delays have been criticised as “scandalous” by the former health minister Norman Lamb, who obtained the figures, and “completely unacceptable” by the National Autistic Society.

Between 2010-11 and 2016-17, health spending increased by an average of 1.2% above inflation and increases are due to continue in real terms at a similar rate until the end of this parliament. This is far below the annual inflation-proof growth rate that the NHS enjoyed before 2010 of almost 4% stretching back to the 1950s. As budgets tighten, NHS organisations have been struggling to live within their means. In the financial year 2015-16, acute trusts recorded a deficit of £2.6bn. This was reduced to £800m last year, though only after a £1.8bn bung from the Department of Health, which shows the deficit remained the same year on year. Continue reading... The Guardian

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Government orders Phillip Morris to stop advertising "healthier" tobacco products or face legal action 

Government orders Phillip Morris to stop advertising "healthier" tobacco products or face legal action The Government will take one of the world's largest tobacco firms to court unless it stops illegally targeting UK consumers with tobacco adverts, a Minister has said.

Yesterday the Department of Health sent a formal order to Phillip Morris, which makes Marlboro cigarettes, telling it to remove poster adverts for "healthier" tobacco products from shops around the UK.

Speaking to the Daily Telegraph, the public health minister, Steve Brine, warned that the department was prepared to take legal action against Phillip Morris in order to protect UK consumers from being targeted by the adverts.

'The money has run out' - health bosses' admission as hip and knee patients denied NHS operations

'The money has run out' - health bosses' admission as hip and knee patients denied NHS operations Hip and knee patients are increasingly being denied operations on the NHS, new figures reveal as health bosses admit “the money has run out”.

A study in the British Medical Journal has found the number of procedures being refused by local NHS chiefs went up 45 per cent last year.

The restrictions have been condemned by the medical community, with the Royal College of Surgeons saying they have left patients having to “beg” for treatment or paying for it themselves. The Daily Telegraph

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HVP vaccine likely to be rolled out for boys as officials call for 'gender-neutral' vaccinations

HVP vaccine likely to be rolled out for boys as officials call for 'gender-neutral' vaccinations A jab which guards mainly against cervical cancer is likely to be given to boys after an influential Government committee called for a “gender neutral” vaccination policy.

The HPV (human papillomavirus) vaccine is currently offered free to all girls aged 12 to 18, however there have been growing demands to also make it available to males.

Experts believe doing so would both increase protection against cervical cancer in girls through “herd immunity”, but also protect against mouth and throat cancers in both sexes. The Daily Telegraph

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Flu vaccines offered no protection against killer 'Aussie' strain

Flu vaccines offered no protection against killer 'Aussie' strain Public Health England today admitted the jab had 'no significant effectiveness’ in stopping people being struck down by H3N2, which was blamed for adding to the pressure on the NHS. The Daily Mail

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